Magyar’s Grassroots Campaign Challenges Fidesz’s Rural Grip

As the cracks widen in Hungary’s ruling party, Péter Magyar is winning ground by showing up where Orbán no longer dares to

26 July 2025

Iván László Nagy

Marcin Król Fellow

While Viktor Orbán’s Tusványos speech missed the mark and his inner circle spent the summer retreat touting loyalty and brushing off economic hardship, Péter Magyar criss-crossed Hungary’s countryside, tapping into a quiet, growing resentment. From small-town forums to packed rallies, his movement is beginning to pry open cracks in Fidesz’s long-held rural dominance.

At the end of 2024, there were rumours about a snap election in Hungary. The following year’s national budget had funds reserved for electoral purposes, and opposition leader Péter Magyar amplified the gossip, saying that they’ll switch to ‘campaign mode’ in the new year to get ready for Viktor Orbán’s potential call for early elections, the first of its kind in post-Socialist Hungary.

The government downplayed the question as ‘farcical’ and set its sights on 2026. In hindsight, it might have been their only way to remain in power.

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Iván László Nagy

Marcin Król Fellow

Ivan L. Nagy is a Fellow at Visegrad Insight from Budapest, currently working for the Columbia Journalism Review in New York. Prior to his move to the US, he was an analyst, opinion writer and the head of podcasts at HVG, a leading independent news outlet in Hungary. His work focuses primarily on democratic security and right-wing populism in the CEE region. He is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School's MA programme.

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